I asked a few months ago if it boosted spell damage, and was told that it didn't.

Now I have a new Ranger/Archer, and am wondering if it boosts ranged (bow/xbow/thrown) damage.

The description in game just says something like "boosts damage by X percent", which is quite vague.

Thanks for the help.

smeggy1384

03-29-2013, 03:10 PM

Melee and bow/crossbow damage get the listed % damage boost. Previously it was a flat number, +2 at first rank i believe, now it is 10% at rank one. Not a big boost with low base damage, but adds up to a lot as your damage goes up.

And if I understand correctly, Fighter Haste only boosts melee speed, correct?

nibel

03-29-2013, 05:35 PM

And if I understand correctly, Fighter Haste only boosts melee speed, correct?

No. On my archer it is very noticeable the difference in attack speed with and without Haste Boost. And she only have Haste Boost I from her fighter splash level.

FuzzyDuck81

03-30-2013, 03:59 AM

The +damage boost also stacks with the increased damage from archers focus stance, so that, plus the boost plus manyshot allows for a significant increase vs. single targets like bosses, or anything else you want to take down ASAP.

EllisDee37

03-30-2013, 04:23 AM

And, of course, both human vers damage and fighter/rogue haste boost can be used at the same time since they use different counters and cooldowns.

stefferweffer

03-30-2013, 07:08 AM

That is encouraging. This is on my new 6 Ranger/2 Fighter/12 Monk guy, focusing on Archery (thru Half Elf).

How high should I take Human Versatility? In the past I have usually stopped at 2, because it starts getting expensive points wise (for less increase), but for bosses or big battles it would be nice to have even more damage at upper levels.

EllisDee37

03-30-2013, 08:10 AM

Action boosts are front-loaded, so I generally view them as only having two choices: stop at I, or take it all the way to IV.

On my (18/1/1) ranger I gladly took human versatility to IV largely because rangers don't have much of value to spend AP on, but also because human vers IV is awesome. By contrast, my (pure 15) monk took human vers to II solely to meet progression requirements. I'd drop it altogether if there were ANY monk enhancements with a progression of 0. Sheesh.

My (18/2) pally happily takes rogue haste I and human vers I and doesn't give the higher tiers a second thought.

Mastikator

03-30-2013, 10:04 AM

Base damage from melee, thrown and ranged, sneak attack too if I'm not mistaken, but not "burst" type like Flaming or Lightningstrike. You can stack it with class based haste boost, but not damage boost. If using both damage boost + haste boost + manyshot then you get a huge pile of damage.

brzytki

03-30-2013, 10:09 AM

The +damage boost also stacks with the increased damage from archers focus stance, so that, plus the boost plus manyshot allows for a significant increase vs. single targets like bosses, or anything else you want to take down ASAP.

How high should I take Human Versatility? In the past I have usually stopped at 2, because it starts getting expensive points wise (for less increase), but for bosses or big battles it would be nice to have even more damage at upper levels.

I take it all the way to IV on characters that I use it on, but I'm using Versatility on them as an occasional skill or save boost as well.

You may get more mileage using your AP on monk stances and stat boosts, but I can't say for sure. At least it's easily-changed enhancements, so it's not like you're locking yourself into anything by trying out different combinations.

scoobmx

03-30-2013, 12:46 PM

There are 2 schools of thought on this issue :)

It's supposed to break, but currently doesn't.

However, it WILL also work with 10k stars & AFAIK thats WAI.

Yes, but 2 things. 1: Never trust in-game descriptions. 2: The question wasn't whether or not it's supposed to break, the question was does it break, and the answer to that question is No with 100% confidence.

Archer's focus provides a stacking damage boost that increases over time. When you invoke Manyshot (or when you move) you break the chain and do not gain any additional increases. The effectiveness of the damage increase then declines back towards zero.

It is unclear if this is WAI. The description seems to indicate that moving or using Manyshot should immediately reset the damage boost to zero. However, it currently simply stops the increases and starts the decrease timer.